Pets snaffling for more treats

Stunned by the explosive success of their luxury pet treats – made from locally sourced and animal welfare friendly products – the team behind The Innocent Pet Care Company found themselves running into capacity and product development constraints.

“We have grown very fast in the 12 months since we set up and desperately needed new equipment to expand,” says Innocent Pet Care’s founder Chloe Heaton.

Her plant in North Yorkshire, which started production in July 2014, is a purpose designed production facility but was quickly approaching capacity. “The company uses a bespoke drying process to produce the air-dried treats that minimises drying time,” explains Fabien Deswarte, Business Development Unit Manager at the BDC. “By helping them gain additional drying capacity, the business also hopes to be able to develop further innovative pet treats that fit the company’s ethos and will help them expand and grow.”

Through an ERDF capital grant, the BDC were able to support them in the purchase of additional drying capacity, which is expected to help them achieve a tenfold increase in their turnover this year, and develop new products and new markets, including opportunities overseas.

“We produce a range of own-label products for other businesses and want to continue to develop exciting, healthy new products. The market for quality, healthy pet treats is growing at a phenomenal rate. With the support of the capital grant from the BDC we are now able to take a bigger share of that market and take on two new employees,” Chloe said.